Franklin Chamber of Commerce finds new home
The Franklin Chamber of Commerce is looking for financial support from the community to purchase new office space.
Linda Harbuck, executive director of the chamber, said the chamber has been looking for new office space for several years but the need recently became more urgent. The North Carolina Department of Transportation will soon begin a bridge replacement project in Franklin that will cause traffic to be redirected at the intersection on Porter Street in front of the current chamber office.
“That traffic shift will necessitate our relocation,” Harbuck said in a letter to members. “As many of you know, the chamber has been interested in relocating to a larger, updated facility for years. We wanted a more high-traffic location to give our members the highest possible exposure. To that point, the perfect opportunity has been presented.”
The chamber is planning to purchase the former Simple Elegance building located at 98 Hyatt Road in the Holly Springs Shopping Center. Located on the U.S. 441 bypass, Harbuck said the location has traffic counts of over 19,000 vehicles a day — a significant increase over the Porter Street location.
“With excellent signage, our visibility will be greatly increased,” she said.
The new modernized building has two stories and about 8,000 square feet of space. Harbuck said the space would be used for the visitor center, a cyber café where visitors can use free Wi-Fi and a walk-through promotional area displaying things to do while visiting Franklin. The building would also accommodate staff offices, office rental space, a conference room and a large open space for events and workshops.
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The chamber is offering four options for members who want to help with the effort to purchase the new building. Members can sponsor a room for $2,000 or sponsor a big screen TV for $2,000 or a donation. They can also sponsor booth space in the walk-through promotional area — $36 a month for a 12-sqaure foot booth and up to $180 a month for 90 square feet of booth space.
Members can pay for the booth space on an annual basis and are responsible for maintaining the display.
The chamber is also setting up appointments to show the rental and advertising space in the building, along with room sponsorship opportunities.
“We expect the four upstairs rental offices to go quickly,” Harbuck said. “We plan to have then rented by Dec. 15.”
To schedule an appointment, call 828.524.3161.
